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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04998890

Improving Mental Health of Chinese University Students in Hong Kong: Adventure-based Cognitive Behavioural Intervention

This study delivered an adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention program to a group of Hong Kong university students. The program effectiveness was evaluated by a randomized controlled trial in reducing psychological distress and improving mental health of these students. The 3-month maintenance effect was also tested.

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Key information

Conditions

Adventure-based Cognitive Behavioral Intervention

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Jiayan Pan

Hong Kong

About this study

University students are vulnerable to mental health problems due to the various challenges they have to face in university life. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of university counseling programs in Hong Kong. This project aims at developing and systematically evaluating a culturally adapted and adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention (aCBI) program to decrease psychological distress and improve various mental health outcomes for Chinese university students in Hong Kong. The aCBI program was delivered in a form of general education course in a university setting. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was adopted. The program was evaluated its effectiveness in reducing psychological distress, perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, negative thoughts and negative emotions and increasing positive thoughts and positive emotions.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • be of Chinese nationality
  • be studying in undergraduate programs at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), as the aCBI program will be provided in the form of a general education course at this university
  • have GHQ-12 scores of 2-10 (0-0-1-1) (i.e., mild to moderate levels of psychological distress)
  • be willing to complete the entire process of the project.

Exclusion criteria

  • have GHQ-12 scores of 0-1 (i.e., a low level of psychological distress) or 11-12 (i.e., a high level of psychological distress)
  • have one or more psychosis
  • have experienced severe depression with suicidal attempts/ideation in the past 3 months, as diagnosed by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist.

Treatment and study plan

adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention

Other

The adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention is a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and adventure training. The intervention program is delivered in a 39-hour general education course entailed "Improving Mental Health for University Success" in a public university in Hong Kong. The program includes 6 lectures, 5 workshops, 5 adventure games and an adventure day camp. Students are divided into two groups in workshop to practise CBT skills to deal with their own issues.

Primary outcomes

  1. General Health Questionnaire-12

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    12-item rating scale for psychological distress, scale score ranges from 0-12, with a higher score indicating a higher level of psychological distress

  2. General Health Questionnaire-12

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    12-item rating scale for psychological distress, scale score ranges from 0-12, with a higher score indicating a higher level of psychological distress

  3. General Health Questionnaire-12

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    12-item rating scale for psychological distress, scale score ranges from 0-12, with a higher score indicating a higher level of psychological distress

Secondary outcomes

  1. Perceived Stress Scale

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    10-item rating scale for perceived stress, scale score ranges from 0-4, with a higher score indicating a higher level of perceived stress

  2. Perceived Stress Scale

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    10-item rating scale for perceived stress, scale score ranges from 0-4, with a higher score indicating a higher level of perceived stress

  3. Perceived Stress Scale

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    10-item rating scale for perceived stress, scale score ranges from 0-4, with a higher score indicating a higher level of perceived stress

  4. Beck Depression Inventory

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    21-item rating scale for depressive symptoms, scale score ranges from 0-63, with a higher score indicating a higher level of depressive symptoms

  5. Beck Depression Inventory

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    21-item rating scale for depressive symptoms, scale score ranges from 0-63, with a higher score indicating a higher level of depressive symptoms

  6. Beck Depression Inventory

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    21-item rating scale for depressive symptoms, scale score ranges from 0-63, with a higher score indicating a higher level of depressive symptoms

  7. Beck Anxiety Inventory

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    21-item rating scale for anxiety symptoms, scale score ranges from 0-63, with a higher score indicating a higher level of anxiety symptoms

  8. Beck Anxiety Inventory

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    21-item rating scale for anxiety symptoms, scale score ranges from 0-63, with a higher score indicating a higher level of anxiety symptoms

  9. Beck Anxiety Inventory

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    21-item rating scale for anxiety symptoms, scale score ranges from 0-63, with a higher score indicating a higher level of anxiety symptoms

  10. Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    14-item rating scale for positive and negative automatic thoughts, score ranges from 1-5 for the positive thought subscale and negative thought subscale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of positive/negative thought.

  11. Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    14-item rating scale for positive and negative automatic thoughts, score ranges from 1-5 for the positive thought subscale and negative thought subscale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of positive/negative thought.

  12. Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    14-item rating scale for positive and negative automatic thoughts, score ranges from 1-5 for the positive thought subscale and negative thought subscale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of positive/negative thought.

  13. Chinese Affect Scale

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    20-item rating scale for positive and negative emotions, score ranges from 1-6 for positive emotion subscale and negative emotion subscale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of positive/negative emotion

  14. Chinese Affect Scale

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    20-item rating scale for positive and negative emotions, score ranges from 1-6 for positive emotion subscale and negative emotion subscale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of positive/negative emotion

  15. Chinese Affect Scale

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    20-item rating scale for positive and negative emotions, score ranges from 1-6 for positive emotion subscale and negative emotion subscale, with a higher score indicating a higher level of positive/negative emotion

  16. Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    12-item rating scale for measuring sense-making coping, score ranges from "1" = "totally disagree" to "6" = "totally agree", with a higher score indicating a higher level of sense-making coping.

  17. Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    12-item rating scale for measuring sense-making coping, score ranges from "1" = "totally disagree" to "6" = "totally agree", with a higher score indicating a higher level of sense-making coping.

  18. Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    12-item rating scale for measuring sense-making coping, score ranges from "1" = "totally disagree" to "6" = "totally agree", with a higher score indicating a higher level of sense-making coping.

  19. Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale

    Time frame: baseline: before the intervention program starts

    25-item rating scale for measuring resilience, score ranges from "1" = "not true at all" to "5" = "true all the time". All the Item scores are summed up as a total score, with a higher score indicating greater resilience.

  20. Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale

    Time frame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program

    25-item rating scale for measuring resilience, score ranges from "1" = "not true at all" to "5" = "true all the time". All the Item scores are summed up as a total score, with a higher score indicating greater resilience.

  21. Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale

    Time frame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program

    25-item rating scale for measuring resilience, score ranges from "1" = "not true at all" to "5" = "true all the time". All the Item scores are summed up as a total score, with a higher score indicating greater resilience.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Hong Kong Baptist University

Other

Collaborators

  • Research Grants Council, Hong Kong

Registry information

Official study title

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Adventure-based Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for University Students in Hong Kong

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Aug 10, 2021
Registry last updated
Aug 10, 2021

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.